D&D 4E List of Potential New Martial Practices

[Tony Vargas]

I think the Batman technique used in limited fashion is interesting ... but used pervasively could be tacky

Need to find a better cost/limit than surges to keep that from happening. Maybe practices like that need to be prepped, only so many prepped, only so many at a time?

 

[Garthanos]

Need to find a better cost/limit than surges to keep that from happening. Maybe practices like that need to be prepped, only so many prepped, only so many at a time?

For the one case I implemented it was actually liquid funds as karma points (where the equipment cost was spent)

But actually prepping used to emulate prepping is kind of interesting too

 

[Garthanos]

One type of potential MP that I have kind of been ignoring is represented rather well by the ritual "Pass without a trace" - these are rituals which really should have been implemented as skillful/martial practices they occur as rituals more for legacy reasons from a very early D&D where skills didnt exist so the ranger was given spells.

I am thinking I will adjust them and give them Healing surges costs and skill rolls to reduce the endurance costs at higher level so those which do not scale (like pass without a trace) are appropriately priced ... but in general maybe I have ignored them because they lack the challenge of some of these others

 

[Garthanos]

Hmmm not actually being tempted for other nature rituals hrumph...

Though I definitely want to get animal languages in to the mix maybe treating them as 1/3 of a language and making categories

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

There is another set of practices that might found... a number of the rituals particularly those with a ranger flavor to them many of those should have been practices in the first place.

I nominate "Pass without a trace" as bloody obvious example.

Well, if not just an example of being well-trained in woodscraft/tracking/etc. This is one thing I like about the 'boon' system I use, you can simply create 'master of woodcraft' or something like that and give it a 'utility power' like this (can also be called a ritual, only real difference in my current system is time to 'cast').

 

[Garthanos]

Well, if not just an example of being well-trained in woodscraft/tracking/etc. This is one thing I like about the 'boon' system I use, you can simply create 'master of woodcraft' or something like that and give it a 'utility power' like this (can also be called a ritual, only real difference in my current system is time to 'cast').

In this particalar case the cost to cast will be different... I am thinking if you are using normal not so heroic skill use the party is slowed and a bad roll it fails to provide benefits (for the martial practice a bad roll only requires using a heroic surge)

Each party member will be able to aid other by using a nature skill so that a pretty high skill roll becomes very doable with a party of woodscrafty types.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

In this particalar case the cost to cast will be different... I am thinking if you are using normal not so heroic skill use the party is slowed and a bad roll it fails to provide benefits (for the martial practice a bad roll only requires using a heroic surge)

Each party member will be able to aid other by using a nature skill so that a pretty high skill roll becomes very doable with a party of woodscrafty types.

Well, I also have a much stronger focus on "what are the results?" vs the mechanics of what you DID (process). So a "Pass without a Trace" practice would be something that would cost a resource and grant a success in the current SC in which it was advantageous to not be tracked. This would normally involve a check, but depending on what cost you're willing to put up that would be more or less just passed (if you wish to use a free application of the practice then its simply narrative justification to be able to make a check in situation X, though it might well be a slightly easier check than if you had nothing Nature to apply to the situation). So, practices (and rituals, etc) are becoming more of a stake-setting plot element kind of thing. A character could also spend inspiration and invoke Pass Without a Trace and get a clean automatic success, even positing some change in narrative reality to make it fit, within reason.

 

[Garthanos]

Well, I also have a much stronger focus on "what are the results?" vs the mechanics of what you DID (process). So a "Pass without a Trace" practice would be something that would cost a resource and grant a success in the current SC in which it was advantageous to not be tracked.

Yeh I do get it not as sure how I can hybrid that mentality with how martial practices / rituals currently operate.

The Trance/Sleeping in the saddle ritual/practice would cost resource in the SC when it was advantagous to be aware in the night AND iif in a SC having more hours in the day to work on it would help.

Part of that is the same benefit provided by the alarm ritual.

 

[Garthanos]

I am thinking of having notes for each practice

• Without the Practice
• In a Challenge

 

[Garthanos]

@AbdulAlhazred - Not sure why it just occured to me that the paradigm of allowing rituals to not expend their components in a low intensity situation ie outside of a SC (or significantly high skill result situation ) works fine in game world flavor as well. It still requires some of the components but they do not burn up or you can replace them with cheap alternatives etc if you arent pushing it. You can use that speak to the dead ritual and not expend its component to summon your grandma and that is the narative for your learning magic and being cnnected to your family heritage (with a nice history skill) but when you need it for something challenging it takes a high skill result or you expend it when trying to talk to the spirit of the corpse you just found. Admittedlly this ties in to the freedom to reflavor already for instance if you have a perfect sense of direction (is there something that gives this?), you might describe this as being able to ask directions of spirits along your path.

Hmmm I think I want to make a necromancer of some sort... describe many many things interms of the dead and spirits aiding him.